सीक्रेट सुपरस्टार

Bollywood has been going through some tough times during 2017 starting from Salman Khan's disaster dilemma to Varun Dhawan's cheesy acting. Luckily some films during the year created some satisfaction such as Baahubali 2 and Mom.

So the story revolves around a 14 year old named Insia who resides in a suburban city that goes by the name of Vadodara which is in Gujarat. Insia's dream was to pursue a career in singing and her mother is highly supportive of Insia's decision to become a singer but her abusive and cold- hearted father invades her comfort zone which results in her dreams being crushed. So Insia decides to secretly pursue signing by posting a video and uses a burqa to hide her identity so her father don't find out. The video goes viral and it catches the attention of a failing and dim-witted Casanova music director Shakti Kumar. With the help of her mother and Kumar, how Insia manages to pursue her dream and what happens afterwards is basically what this film is about.

Honestly, the teaser and trailer made me more excited for Aamir Khan but watching this movie made me realize that Aamir Khan wasn't the only important factor in the film. I loved this movie for how it was and how it looked. Advait Chandan deserves a bow because this debut filmmaker managed to master the craft of producing a screenplay that kept all the emotional factors in its place which also kept the audience engaged throughout the 143 minutes of the film.

The acting in the movie was phenomenal.

Zaira Wasim steals the show completely. Her acting had a clear justification to never fear anyone before pursuing a dream and her Dangal mentality managed to cover that.

Meher Vij was nice and heartwarming as the mother for Zaira. Luckily in my opinion, she was not bad in Bajrangi Bhaijaan where she did the role of the little girl's mother but in this movie she manages to execute the mother role according to our expectations.

Despite Aamir Khan's role only appearing half of the film, he still managed to act like the same khan who we all adore a lot. His flirty and sleazy humor managed to ma laugh a lot of times.

Raj Arjun's first attempt as an abusive father figure kept the film smooth.

The music was nice but I felt some tracks had weak compositions and Amit Trivedi has done it in some films like Qaidi Band and Shaandaar. Lyrics were fantastically produced by Kaiser Munir.

Anil Mehta's cinematography keeps the script of the integral and consistent.

Overall, I loved this movie.

1) Beautifully written and directed. 2) Well performed 3) Nice Camera work

Enjoy your Diwali with this film at a theater near you.

Golmaal Again will surpass the box office for this film. Secret superstar should fall into the 50-75 crore range. But just rely on the film more than the box office.

3.75/4- Bollywood's most proper flick

On my walk home from the cinema, I thought about why I loved Secret Superstar so much despite it being a sometimes-absurd, cliché-heavy fantasy film imparting the dubious message that only if a female is a potential entertainment superstar does she have the chance to escape her sordid existence in the Indian Muslim world. It's obvious - there is so much to love about this film that made me cast aside any reservations I had about declaring it a masterpiece. The subjects of domestic abuse and the subjugation of women in Indian Muslim culture are dealt with adroitly, and they provide the perfect foundation and vortex for an extraordinary story to unfold. I loved the mingling of conventional Indian Muslim culture and Internet culture, and the mingling of provincial values and culture with the Mumbai lifestyle and attitude within the entertainment industry. Overall, I did not feel manipulated by this film nor did I feel bombarded by a Let-Us- Entertain-You vibe; behind the Bollywood blockbuster production guise I witnessed tremendous genuineness. The tears that I shed did not happen because the filmmakers are clever pushers of emotion buttons. I was genuinely touched. The joy that I experienced was more from being moved than from being entertained. It's simply a beautiful, glorious film.

Debutant director Advait Chandan has hit the right chords by beautifully portraying the mother-daughter relationship and setting the story in a middle class locality where not only you, your dreams and emotions are also trapped by the 'man' of the house.

This is a story of a teenage girl Insia (Zaira Wasim) who tackling massive challenges imposed by her overtly potent father (Raj Arjun) finally fulfils her dreams of becoming a superstar singer with the support of her helpless mother (Meher Vij), best friend Chintan (Tirth Sharma) and an out of luck music director Shakti Kumar (Aamir Khan). All the performances are so enthralling that it keeps you glued to the screen and makes you give a victory jump at the climax.

On the whole, Secret Superstar is a brilliantly crafted film inspiring people to chase dreams as they do come true, highlighting relevant social issues of patriarchal society and showing the importance of mothers. It's a mother's unconditional love and sacrifice that holds the family together. She sacrifices all her passions and dreams for the sake of her husband and child. Salute to all mothers and motherhood.

Aamir khan never fails to amaze us, never! Do not miss this film.

I liked "A star is born", but then I watched this movie from 2017 and wondered what "A star is born" was missing...well a lot of things - of course if the movie was created to justify the title.

This movie is not made for Oscars or awards , it is made for reasons. Reasons that prevent from millions of people to reach their potential. It's an ode to a mother, an ode to a girl child and hopefully a lesson for a lot of people to be more accepting. My Oscar for 2018 goes to this movie, just because it was not just entertainment but also and inspiration.

Great natural acting, very minimalistic and simplistic direction, strong message and a inspiration to dream! The movie is a bit longish but it was needed to develop the characters to their full potential. Having said that cutting off 15 minutes would have made it a bit better for international markets as well.

Completely recommended for all the people who are looking for a movie to be engrossed in! ( Note that i love Avengers as well, but this one is not a movie where you can read a book while watching the movies, take a seat and take a ride with this one!)

SECRET SUPERSTAR

Duration : 150 Minutes Genre : Drama

Zaira Wasim : the fresh face which we all first saw in Dangal has now turned into a star, she shines completely, and justifies the term "Superstar" in the title. One can see, how genuinely she plays Insia. Meher Vij : She portrays Insia's mother, who complements Zaira's character like no other. Applause worthy! Aamir Khan : He plays Shakti Kumar. We have all seen Aamir in his different avatars, and the audiences should not be missing this one! He is hilarious! Raj Arjun who plays Insia's father is ferocious. Tirth Sharma who portrays Chintan is lovable.

Story : Secret Superstar is a story relating to a daughter/girl who dreams to be a singer; A mother who loves her daughter like no other but also feels helpless at the same time; A father who is stubborn and violent towards his family; A friend who would go to any limits to help out the girl he adores, and a struggling arrogant music director who turns out to be the helping hand in the girl's life. Secret Superstar will make you angry, love, laugh, weep, smile in its 150 minute duration. It's a story of the bond of a mother and her child. Advait Chandan has done a remarkable job on this one.

Music : The tracks of Secret Superstar maybe just ordinary, however "Main Kaun Hoon" wins hearts.

Overall, Secret Superstar is a must watch by all ages. Aamir Khan Productions bags in a sure shot winner this Diwali.